Oh, wow. We were so stunned by Barbra Streisand's left-field chart victory yesterday we forgot to check on Ghostface's Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. Maybe it was because you have to go all the way to #28 just to see where the damn thing debuted? At the sub-Mendoza line figure of 19,200? So much for that cash-in. The chuckle patch turns out to be a cold place indeed. [XXL]

There must be a lot of celebrating going down in the old VW compound right about now. From yesterday's Q+A in the Times, with Ghost and his manager Mike Caruso, an interview which took place inside a "parked S.U.V. around midnight recently":

Q: Vampire Weekend is a group you said you liked. How'd you first hear about them?

MR. CARUSO: My son, he's 15, left his iPod in the car, and that was on it.

The record's out next Tuesday, and Ghostface plays for free next Wednesday, but today you can stream the entirety of Ghostini: The Wizard of Poetry right here, courtesy of imeem. Let us remind you once again that "Stapleton Sex" exists, so that you don't somehow stumble upon it unawares. Otherwise, go straight to the jealous husband drama of "Guest House," on which Fabolous turns in an Oscar-worthy performance as a randy and ultimately doomed cableman. After that, the choice is yours:

--After getting a bit more publicly excited than we care to remember about Thorns of Life, last fall's short-lived collaboration between Jawbreaker/Jets to Brazil's Blake Schwarzenbach, Aaron Cometbus, and (The L Word's) Daniella Sea, we figured we'd just go ahead and keep quiet about forgetters, Schwarzenbach's new band with Against Me! OG Kevin Mahon, even though we--(ahem)--saw them play back in August. But since the cat seems to be out of the bag...check the band out at their website, or at Lit Lounge this Friday, where they'll play with Golden City, Solar Power Sun Destroyer, and Thought and Memory.

Where to even begin here? On Friday, Ghostface debuted a new song off Wizard of Poetry called "Stapleton Sex," telling the Shade 45 DJ Angela Yee, "I read an interview where Natalie Portman said she likes dirty rap, obscene lyrics and all that. I figure she can dance to this one. I'm looking for you Natalie!" OK! "Stapleton Sex," meanwhile, is about as raw as it is possible for a human to get: "Dick all shiny, helmet head bulging..." It's hard to think of a situation in which it would be anything but uncomfortable to listen to this song. Including by yourself, on headphones.